Romer Labs acquires Strategic Diagnostics’ food safety, GMO business

Romer Labs, a global supplier of food safety diagnostics, has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of the food safety and GMO businesses of Strategic Diagnostics Inc. (SDIX). The deal accelerates Romer Labs’ move into food pathogen detection and augments its product and service range, making it a complete supplier for food safety solutions.

SDIX’s food safety business includes RapidChek lateral flow test strips with proprietary enrichment media, the patented RapidChek SELECT phage-based enrichment systems and RapidChek CONFIRM immunomagnetic confirmation tools. These products are approved for the detection of pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli in a variety of food, feed, and environmental samples.

“The RapidChek product family is a strong brand for food pathogen detection and has proven to be an accurate and reliable rapid test for the food industry worldwide. We are proud to integrate this renowned brand into our portfolio and are fully committed to expanding our range for food pathogen analysis in the future. The technology we are acquiring is solid and approved and has also been successfully performance tested by AOAC on various occasions,” said Michael Prinster, CEO of Romer Labs North America.

The acquisition also includes the GMO test kit business, in which SDIX already had an exclusive distribution partnership with Romer Labs. This was a logical consequence of a successful cooperation between the two companies, which had already been established in 2010. Transferring the GMO business to Romer Labs gives the customers more security that they can rely on a trustworthy partner that now also develops and manufactures the products.

Romer Labs will take over all the staff members of the SDIX food safety and GMO division, including those in R&D, sales & marketing, and production. It will continue to run the business out of Newark, Del.